The last week and a half has been a busy one, since Jamie and I were out from Wednesday evening through Tuesday noon - and then I left against Thursday morning through late last night. From Wednesday through Friday afternoon we were in Plano for the Eastern District of Texas' 14th annual bench/bar conference, then we headed to Albuquerque for the 2010 annual meeting and investiture of the Southwestern Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, where we were inducted as members of the order.
The Order was founded in 1099 by Godfrey de Bouillon, and was confirmed by Pope Paschal II in 1113, and is a worldwide Catholic organization, and currently works to help Christians in the Holy Land, through assisting schools, orphanages, churches, and other activities. Members are nominated by their priests and bishops, and invested with their insignia by the Grand Prior (in our case Cadinal DiNardo from Houston) at a memorable Mass on Sunday afternoon.
We got in too late Friday to do anything other than catch a great dinner at a Mediterranean resturant around the corner from our hotel in Alb., but Sunday was busy, busy, with a orientation meeting for new members that morning, followed by a bus trip to Santa Fe for Mass in the cathedral there, where members of the order received various promotions. We then came back to Alb., and changed into black tie (which is actually casual dress for this outfit) for dinner, and had a nice dinner 
with other people from Marshall and their families.
Sunday is the big day, which started with the annual meeting, followed by a quick lunch because we had to be back at 12:30 for rehearsal in white tie. 
We were then bused over to St. Joseph's on the Rio Grande for the 2pm afternoon Mass at which we would be invested. Knights carry their white cape and beret during the investiture (as you can see in the picture, and after receiving our insignia from the Cardinal 
we were robed by other knights. The white cape with cross of Jerusalem, 
incidentally, comes from a directive by Godfrey's brother, Baldwin in 1103, so I'm not thinking they'll be changing the color anytime soon. I'm not yet enthusiatic about the black velvet beret with insignia, but on the bright side, it makes the admiral's hat chapeaux I wear for Knights of Columbus 4th degree look really good.
The ladies of the order wore their black lace mantillas, black long-sleeved dresses and black gloves, and carried their robes and were likewise robed after their investiture. Just your basic two and a half hour Mass. We then went back for dinner - here's a picture of our four investees and one promotee (Father Denzil) from St. Joseph's. 
It goes without saying that it was a religious experience, but it was a great experience for both of us, and we are looking forward to our work in the Order and to next year's meeting. Father D was so excited that he's ordered us to show up at Mass tomorrow morning in our full dress. The boys are going to be so excited...
